


Guardian of the Wild

by shyamentu



Category: Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Blood, Child Abuse, Fearlings, Feral!Jack, Gen, No Beta, Pitch Black (Guardians of Childhood) Being an Asshole, The Author Regrets Nothing, Violence, author is an asshole, minor OCs - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-11
Updated: 2019-02-10
Packaged: 2019-09-16 07:39:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 11,931
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16949793
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shyamentu/pseuds/shyamentu
Summary: When Jack awoke from the ice, he had very little memory of being human. Unseen by other humans, he was forced to figure out how to survive alone. 300 years later, the Guardians are looking for him...(Will add tags as and when they're necessary. Story renamed from Feral Frost Child. Updated warning from none to violence; it's not actually very graphic, but I wanted to be on the safe side!)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Unbeta'd  
> I am a busy college student and will only be writing and updating between my college projects. This is also the first story I've written in a very long time, so any and all feedback is very much appreciated.
> 
> In this fic, Jack is much younger - around 8 years old, and he hasn't got his staff. I've never read the books, but will be trying to draw some from that lore based on what I understand from other fanfics, including Bunny being a Pooka. The first chapter is partially a retread of the introduction of the movie.

"Cookies? Eggnog, anyone?"

North called out happily to his gathering companions.

"This better be good, North..."

* * *

 The Guardians looked up to the Man in the Moon.

"It's been long time, old friend! What is big news?"

A moonbeam carefully fades, to reveal the silhouette of a familiar foe.

"Pitch..." Bunny mumbles. North pats his belly and gives Bunny a look, as if to tell him 'I told you so.'

"Manny, what must we do?" North asks, as he looks back to the moon. The moonlight intensifies, and moves to an ornate symbol on the floor. The symbol rises, and a large gem comes with it. The moons light focuses on the gem.

"He's choosing a new Guardian!"

"Why?!"

"Must be big deal, if Manny thinks we need help!"

The Guardians argue amongst each other, pausing only when the light within the gem takes on a form. A child-like spirit, hooded but hunched on the ground.

"...who is that?" North questions.

"Trouble, that's who that is. I've heard of him before. He's dangerous! More than any other winter spirit!" Bunny answered. "He's a reclusive, dangerous, insane..."

"Guardian..." North interrupted.

"He is many things, but not a Guardian, North." Bunny retorted.

* * *

 Bunny peeked out of his hole. He had no idea why he had been roped into fetching the winter spirit, but he did know he was skittish and actively avoided other spirits. He saw the boy, retreating into a small cave. The spirit wore a cloak made of animal furs, what little of his body was visible covered in leathers, though his feet were bare.

He silently stalked toward the cave. It was barely as tall as his hip, forcing him down onto all-fours. He cautiously crept inside... and was almost immediately pounced on. The force dragged him out of the cave, with clawed fingers digging into his arms. He managed to angle himself back to avoid the snapping bite.

The feral spirit bounced back, down on all fours, snarling at him. Bunny felt his instincts kicking in, his training as a warrior. He readied his boomerangs, as the spirit stalked around him, still on all fours. Bunny studied him curiously; he had always been under the assumption that Jack Frost was at least partially an animal, but the proportions of his body screamed human. Not just any human; a human child. This revelation made him pause, and that pause was all Jack needed.

He lunged forward, jumping up to push the warriors shoulders. Bunny reacted quickly, dodging and spinning. He grabbed the child's furred cloak, and flung him into the ground. Almost instantly, the boy was trying to get back up, but Bunny sat down on his chest, pinning his arms with his knees. This sent him into a frenzy, fighting harder to break free, screaming in rage. Bunny, drawing on instinctive memories of younger siblings, simply sat still. He was careful not to put too much pressure on the furious figure beneath him, but watched him calmly.

Eventually - close to four hours later - the boy finally stopped, panting.

"You done now?" Bunny asked, coming back from his musing. The boy snarled, and began flailing again. It took another ten minutes to stop again. Rolling his eyes, Bunny reached down and tightly wrapped the boys cloak around his body to act as a makeshift restraint, struggling against the boy begin to flail yet again. He picked his angry bundle up and flung him over his shoulder. He tapped his foot on the ground and dropped down.

Unknown to the duo, drawn by the chaos, a man watched smiling in the shadows...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As I said at the start, any and all feedback would be massively appreciated. I don't have the most detailed plans for where this is going. Join me for this trainwreck! Curse my fondness of AU's! (yes i have more ideas don't hate me pls.)


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Well. They've managed to find the feral spirit, but trouble is afoot...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the comments and kudos on the first chapter, bros. 
> 
> Potential TW: Injury to a finger. Not described in massive detail, but discussed.

North was excited. A new Guardian?! And a youngster, too! He had already retrieved the Book of the Guardians, ready to swear in the little spirit. Tooth was anxious, unsure how to make sure the little one felt welcome. She had redecorated the Globe Chamber with pillows and blankets, children like those, right? Sandy floated serenely watching his companions with an amused smile, sipping eggnog.

The doors to the Workshop slammed open, to the annoyance of the Yeti. The Workshop was suddenly filled by a horrific, ear splitting, constant screeching. Bunny entered the Globe Chamber with a squirming bundle over his shoulder - which seemed to be the source of the screeching.

"...Bunny, this is not normal, what is happening?" North questions, eyes wide - not with wonder, but concern.

"...brat's havin' a bit of a... tantrum." Bunny answered, looking exhausted and utterly miserable, the sheer volume hurting his ears. How the hell can one kid have this much energy, let alone lung capacity?! He brought the bundle down from his shoulder, holding it like a swaddled baby... much to the distaste of the already enraged spirit, who only screamed even louder. "Kid, yer gonna ruin yer voice, j-just... stop..." Bunny growled. He sighed in frustration as the screaming - somehow! - got even louder. Both spirits were dangerously close to a meltdown.

North chuckled; he'd had more than a little experience witnessing children melting down. He reached out and took the bundle. "Hey, hey now, little one~" he half-sang, trying to sooth the furious spirit. He moved to stroke the child's cheek, only for the spirit to respond by twisting and chomping down on his finger. To his surprise - beyond the initial shock of pain - North realised the child had ice in his mouth, forming sharp jagged fangs. They left his finger feeling icy cold as the boy twisted and turned his head and ground his jaw, trying to wrench the finger off. North yanked his hand back and inspected the damage. Cringing, Tooth checked the injury. The bite was shockingly deep; she could see some damage to the bone beneath.

Bunny - who had until this point been holding his hands over his ears - growled at the boy. The boys eyes - a beautiful sky blue - darted over to Bunny, as his screeches give way to snarls. It was almost comical watching the Pooka and the child exchanging growls and snarls, until a tiny tendril of golden sand reached down. Sandy, who had been watching curiously, had decided to intervene. The spirit fought the shimmering dream sand for as long as he could, but eventually was dragged into slumber.

* * *

"I can't..." Bunny dragged his hands down over his face. They had laid the slumbering bundle on a sofa in North's sitting room and now cautiously hovered - literally in two cases - around the problem child. "He's... insane. You didn't see it, but t'blighter pounced at me. He moves on all-fours like some kinda... wolf... person. And now he's tryin' to gnaw fingers off and... I can't understan' why Manny picked him!"

 "There must be a reason. Manny wouldn't choose him if there wasn't," Tooth said, staring at North's hand. "But erm, I suppose we should... clean him up? Perhaps then he'd be a little calmer?"

"What, an' let him gnaw on some more body parts?!"

"We can't just... leave him like that... but what if we brought him somewhere nice and quiet for a little bit?"

 Sandy, the ever silent Guardian, was barely listening. He was at a loss; the boy wasn't dreaming. He wasn't experiencing a nightmare either, thankfully, but his mind was completely blank. Shaking his head, he drifted closer and gently rested a hand on the child's forehead, brushing back his bangs, silvery and frozen into spikes. He was cold to the touch, and squirmed a little at the contact.

North suddenly lit up. "I have idea. Let me just..." he began, scooping up the spirit. He carried him, followed by his companions, to a quiet side room. He had his Yeti haul in snow from the outside, letting the rooms temperature plummet as it was stacked up around the room. He laid his cargo down on the now-frozen bed, and made a shooing motion to the others.

"I will speak alone with him. Maybe with less people he will be more calm." he explained, a broad grin on his face.

Bunny glowered at the problem child, "North, it ain't safe," he growled.

"Shoo! Go paint some eggs, is Easter soon, yes?" North chuckled. "I think child was overwhelmed. So, give him familiar surroundings and only one stranger, we see how he responds. If still no good, I call for Sandy. Do not forget I can fight well, friend!"

Very reluctantly, Bunny shuffled backwards towards the door, tugging Tooth along with her. Sandy tilted his head questioningly, and North gave a reassuring thumbs up. Sandy obliged, quietly leaving and closing the door behind him, and North looked down at the child. "Now let's get you unwrapped..."

* * *

A few minutes later, an awkward atmosphere descended on the room. The boy was easily unravelled from what North discovered was a cloak. Beneath, he wore ragged clothes, perhaps things he wore before his sanity became... questionable. He had gently shaken the boy and stepped back. He had been slow to awaken, rolling onto his back to stretch, exposing a dangerously skinny body, before noticing North and launching away from him. They now remained on opposite sides of the room, North knelt beside the door, boy crouched in the corner quietly growling.

For now, North was content to quietly study the would-be Guardian's behaviour. He came to the slow conclusion that he recognised the behaviour; this child acted more like a wolf than a human, and a frightened one at that. He quietly rose to his feet, mostly to watch how this would be perceived. When the boy didn't outwardly react, he crept closer, maintaining eye contact, until he stood over him. He began to make soft shushes, and slowly leaned down. To his surprise, the boy let slip a tiny whimper between his growling and inwardly smiled. He reached out and, almost impossibly gently, rested his hand on his head, feeling the ice in his hair give way to the pressure. The silver-haired boy responded by pulling lower down and back, letting out a tiny series of half-whines, half-barks.

North, feeling bold now, reached forward, slowly and scooped the feral boy up into his arms, pulling him into his lap. "There, now, is more comfy than floor, yes?" he cooed. The boys eyes narrowed, as he glared at one of North's arms. As if slow motion, North watched the ice flood into his mouth, forming fangs, as he lunged forward to bite. He snatched his arm out of the way and, thinking fast, growled deeply. This apparently surprised the young spirit, who looked up at North, tilting his head. Narrowing his eyes again, he slowly moved toward North's arm, mouth open and fangs sharp. North cottoned on; he growled again, baring teeth this time, and silently celebrated as the ice melted away from the boys mouth.

"What am I going to do with you, hm?" he murmured. "That is bad way to find boundary."

He gently nudged the hopefully-tamable boy from his lap to the floor and stood. To his surprise, he was followed as he made his way to the door; he watched as the child followed, walking upright. It was clearly not his preferred way of walking; he was slow and awkward and hunched forward slightly, but as he opened the door and walked through, he could hear the tiny footsteps on the wood behind him. He beamed as he led his new pup to the sitting room where his companions anxiously awaited news. Tooth was the first to respond, surprisingly, seeing the rags that barely held together on the too-skinny frame. She made to dart forward, but saw the warning look in Norths eyes, and approached slowly instead.

She cooed at him gently, even as he nervously shifted behind North, glaring at her.

"What's your name, sweetheart?" she asked, beaming. He responded with a tiny growl-bark and buried his face into the back of North's leg. He almost looked like a normal shy child when he hid like that, peering up at her with one suspicious eye. Tooth looked to North; "He doesn't speak, huh? Well, we can't just call him... 'him', now can we? It'll get confusing..."

The two looked down at the 'him' in question. They began quietly suggesting names, seeing if he would respond to any; Flurry, Cloud, Sweetheart, all were met with the same blank, if slightly hostile, stare. Sandy made a small symbol with his sand, of a simple snowflake, and tilted his head.

"Snowflake?" Tooth asked. The boy leaned forward, just ever so slightly at the name. She could imagine that if he had wolf-ears, they would be perked forward as she smiled. "You like that name? You wanna be Snowflake?" she asked, hopefully. 'Snowflake' made the same growl-bark he made before and she shook her head. "I don't understand that..." For some reason, she felt awfully guilty saying that, even as 'Snowflake' didn't respond.

"So what, we keepin' him as a pet or what?" Bunny suddenly questioned. He had sat quietly watching the entire ridiculous scene play out biting his tongue, but something felt... dehumanising to name the boy like this, like they were denying his true identity somehow.

As Tooth was about to answer - of course Snowflake isn't a pet! - one of her fairies suddenly approached, chirping urgently. Quietly ignoring the predatory focus in Snowflake's eyes, she turned to her companions, a look of urgency in her eyes.

"Pitch is attacking the Palace!"

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We'll be following SOME of the movie's story beats, though obviously they won't be playing out exactly the same given that we don't have Jack :3c
> 
> Feedback & comments appreciated~


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Enter: Pitch

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I adore Pitch in the movie. He's *such* an ass.

As the group moved through the Workshop, North watched their new charge out of the corner his eye. He felt frustrated. Snowflake looked around wide eyed, but not of wonder. He was evaluating his surroundings, looking for escape routes and hiding places, tucking closer to North anytime a Yeti came too close for his liking.

"Is takin' the sleigh a good idea, North?" Bunny asked, staring at Snowflake. Noticing this, Snowflake started glaring back, clinging to North's leg and letting out a warning growl.

"Everyone loves sleigh!"

"Includin' insane wolf kids?!"

"Especially."

* * *

Minutes later - after splitting up a fight between the reindeer and Snowflake who mistook them for prey - Bunny was happy to have Snowflake, even if he was currently screeching in terror. Having someone else terrified of the sleigh felt like a validation of his own fear, though he couldn't give North a smug look just yet. He was too busy trying not to vomit.

As they approached the palace, they saw horses made of strange, shifting black sand swooping around, capturing Tooths fairies. One Nightmare came too close to the sleigh, chasing after a fairy, and apparently, Snowflake decided to combat his fear of heights with a meal. A huge gust of wind swept across the sleigh as he lunged out of the sleigh, sinking his ice fangs into the junction between the horses shoulders and throat. The Nightmare, not expecting such an attack, reared back in surprise, allowing the fairy to escape into the sleigh where she hid beneath a seat. North manoeuvred the sleigh quickly; he could see how tentative Snowflake's grasp was, but managed to sweep beneath the pair as his grip was broken and he tumbled. He landed roughly on Bunny's lap, mouthful of frozen sand. Sandy looked between the sand in Snowflakes mouth and back up to the Nightmare, which almost seemed to be panicking as the ice from his bite had spread across its entire front.

Realising how vulnerable they were in the open air, even with the Nightmares hesitant to approach Snowflake, North steered the sleigh into the palace proper just in time to see Tooth fend off more Nightmares. They seemed to be retreating now, so the Guardians regrouped on one of the higher platforms.

"Th-they took my fairies, a-and the teeth," she hastily explained, flitting around nervously. The one fairy flew back to her mother, giving Tooth some relief - at least one of her fairies had escaped the Nightmares. The fairy hastily explained to Tooth what Snowflake had done and she smiled. "Thank you, Snowflake," she called to the curious boy. He looked at her and tilted his head, then went back to looking around.

"Well I do have to say, I'm rather starstruck," a voice mockingly called out. "The Big Four, all in one place!"

The Guardians looked up to see a grey-skinned man sneering down at them.

"Pitch!" North growled.

"Get down 'ere and fight!" Bunny challenged.

"Ugh, suck an egg, rabbit," Pitch responded, looking disinterested.

"Grr?"

Snowflake had quietly watched the exchange, tilting his head this way and that, trying to make sense of the conversation. The sight of the confused spirit made Pitch chuckle.

"Oh, isn't he cute. Tired of being the only animal on the team, rabbit?" Pitch taunted, shifting through the shadows and reappearing behind Snowflake, who jumped and twisted around to face the stranger. He began to growl out a warning. "Oh yes, you're such a scary puppy, aren't you?" Pitch continued, reaching down to pat the boy on the head.

This was what some people would refer to as a mistake.

Snowflake lunged, sinking his fangs into Pitch's hand briefly, before grabbing his wrist and pulling him forward. Pitch let out a startled gasp as he barely managed to twist to the side, avoiding Snowflakes bite which had been aimed for his throat. Snowflake responded by digging his nails into his wrist, letting the ice coalesce at the tips of his fingers as claws.

"Down boy!" Pitch mocked, wrenching his arm free and hastily moving back into the shadows, back to the platform above the Guardians. "You've got him rather poorly trai---" Pitch began, before reconsidering as Snowflake chased after him, given bursts of vertical movement by sudden gusts of wind. "What the..." he murmured. The Guardians snapped out of their shocked stupor and moved to back Snowflake up, but Pitch had had enough.

"I'll see you all again very soon, Guardians!" he snarled, passing back into the shadows. The Four stayed on guard for a few moments to see if he would return, before turning to face Snowflake, who had decided to dig at the shadows as if he could unbury his foe.

"Attaboy, ankle-biter," Bunny chuckled.

"Perhaps this is what Manny wanted? He's impossible to predict in fight?" North suggested. Snowflake came to sit back by North's feet, letting out a frustrated huff. "He will not escape next time, Snowflake," he reassured.

They turned back to Tooth to check on her condition to find her struggling to stay aloft. It dawned on them all rather quickly; as Tooth and her fairies were unable to gather the teeth of the children throughout the world due to the attack, children were losing faith that she existed, fickle as a child's belief can be. They needed a plan and quickly came up with one - they would gather teeth in place of the fairies until they could free them. However, this left them with a small problem: Snowflake.

Sandy volunteered to carry Snowflake on his cloud. He reshaped part of his cloud to comfortably and easily hold the energetic boy in a bird-cage with large gaps between the bars that would allow him to crawl out if he needed to. Initially, it seemed unnecessary and that Snowflake wouldn't move much, but as the flight went on and he realised he was secure, Snowflake began looking around, crawling around the cage, peeking over the edges. It seemed to help that Sandy went much slower than the sleigh, with smoother turns and less turbulence.

* * *

Some time later, the three of the Four and their charge were gathered in a child's bedroom to compare their progress. Snowflake was sat on the bed, staring at the child. The boy was about ten, older than what Snowflake appeared to be, and had apparently gone to sleep with a flashlight in his hand. Tooth watched, fascinated as Snowflake studied him, blind and deaf to the world around him. Bunny suddenly arrived, and looked around suspiciously. North and Bunny had been competing to collect the most teeth, and apparently he assumed the three were teaming up.

"Anythin' to make sure the rabbit loses, eh?" he teased, loudly. The others turned and shushed him but it was already too late; a surprised yelp from Snowflake as he leapt from the bed announced the boy sitting up quickly and staring wide-eyed at the Guardians. The boy grinned, excited.

"I knew you were all real!" he gasped.

"Uh... yes. We... have to go. Sandy, please knock him out," North awkwardly said, rubbing the back of his head. Sandy was about to use his sand when they all heard growling. Apparently the boy had a pet dog. Apparently the pet dog didn't appreciate Snowflake's presence. Apparently Snowflake didn't appreciate the dogs presence.

"What is it, Abby?" the boy asked, not seeing Snowflake.

Bunny stepped between the two. Both stopped growling to stare at him. Snowflake tilted his head, looking back to the dog as it started growling again.

"...Bunny, that is greyhound. You... do know what greyhounds do, right?" North asked quietly. Bunny shrugged, not intimidated. The atmosphere was becoming tense as the dog stared down the rabbit and the rabbit and feral boy stared down the dog. There was a noise somewhere down the hallway and it acted as a trigger for chaos; the dog lunged forward to chase Bunny, and the sand that Sandy had prepared was knocked loose from his hand.

The ball of dream sand bounced around the room, smacking into most of those present. All but Sandy and Snowflake were rendered unconscious. Snowflake looked up at Sandy and tilted his head. Sandy smiled and shrugged. The golden shapes dancing above their companions heads began to merge, creating a strange shared dream experience for them all, making Sandy chuckle.

Suddenly, Snowflake started growling again and jumped out the window. He had seen movement; movement that looked familiar and he had every intention of hunting down...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and feedback much appreciated as ever, loves. Hope you enjoy Pitch trying to deal with feral Jack. Feral Jack does not approve of creepy Brits trying to touch him >:Y (same tbh)


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pitch vs Snowflake, round 2!

Pitch watched from the skies, amused as the feral Snowflake chased his Nightmare to the outskirts of Burgess, and then even further, out into the woods.

"Back to your pond, little pup," he muttered with a grin. His eyes flicked back toward Burgess, noticing the trail of gold beginning to follow. He sent a swarm of Nightmares to distract his longstanding enemy. "Not yet, little man~"

He let his gaze swing from the two spirits, taking a moment to decide which one he wanted to target first... before riding his Nightmare down to the quiet pond...

* * *

Snowflake's instincts were alight! Prey! He knew he could run faster and longer than most other animals. Including that stupid fancy dusty horse thing! He saw the horse come to a stop in a small clearing and he swerved to circle the clearing, eyes skipping around to make sure his prey was alone. He cautiously approached, staying out of the horses line of sight. It had been a while since he'd hunted a horse, but he had always enjoyed a challenge. He knew they were fast but fragile. They had a large blind spot, but that blind spot would put him in range of their dangerous kicks. He would have to be fast in taking down this stupid horse.

He half stalked, half crawled closer, eyes focused on the horse's ears; he knew they would twitch back if he was heard.

He waited until he was only a few feet from his prey, then lunged, pushed forth by the wind. He sank his icy claws and fangs into the horses flank, bringing his feet up to brace himself as he began to pull. Ice quickly spread across the Nightmare, and rather suddenly, the creature collapsed into a pile of sand. Snowflake pulled back and tilted his head. Well, that's not how prey falls. Where did his meal go?! He leaned down and sniffed at the remains. His ear twitched as he heard a soft cough behind him. He turned to see a familiar face; the grey-skinned man. What had the others called him? Pitch? He instinctively began to growl.

"Now, now, puppy, relax~" Pitch smirked, leaning against a tree, shrouded in shadows. "You're quite the vicious one, aren't you?"

Snowflake began to stalk towards and around him, growling and showing his fangs. Pitch smiled, and crouched slightly. He tapped his hands against his knees, "Here boy, good boy..."

As he did, the dust from the fallen Nightmare suddenly reformed up and swept at Snowflake like a blade. He dodged at the last possible second and sprinted back, away from the duo, and reassessed before charging to the side and attempting to circle around the clearing to Pitch, only to be forced back by the sand again. Every time he made a move to charge Pitch, the sand attacked him. He bounced back and glared. Pitch was still smiling smugly. Snowflake narrowed his eyes, then threw his head back, releasing a loud howl.

Pitch had made a mistake, engaging Snowflake in his own territory, and so he sang out to the wild; 'I'm in danger! Help me!'

* * *

Pitch tilted his head, frowning as the feral child howled. The fight continued, with Snowflake trying to approach Pitch and being rebuffed each time by the sand. A quiet sound to one side drew his attention. He turned to look and saw a wolf stalking towards him. When it realised it had been seen, it began to growl deeply. Pitch heard the same sound repeated around him, and then again from Snowflake.

"...you clever little pup," he smirked as the wolf pack continued it's stalking approach. Three wolves were moving to back up their human brother and four were moving to entrap Pitch. The tense atmosphere was interrupted as a familiar red sleigh crashed into the clearing. Pitch cursed under his breath, quickly escaping into the shadows. Sandy quickly moved to fight the Nightmare, his whip cutting into it. The black sand that made up its body shifted into a familiar golden gleam. He glared, turning his attention to where Pitch had been stood.

North and Bunny were hesitant; they were faced now with a pack of wolves surrounding their charge. Tooth flitted around above the scene, trying to figure out how to help. Snowflake watched, tilting his head, before turning to one of the wolves. He stepped forward and licked its snout. It snorted at him and licked back, even as it side-eyed the strange bird woman. Snowflake moved to each wolf and greeted them, before returning to the Guardians, followed by the pack. He quietly sat on his haunches in front of them and tilted his head. North chuckled as he noticed several wolves mimicking him. He stepped forward and knelt down in front of Snowflake.

"This is family?" he asked, reaching out to one of the wolves. The wolf let out a small barking sound and danced away before settling back down just out of reach, bowing its upper half down and wagging its tail. North smiled, and 'chased' the wolf, increasingly amused as some of the other wolves joined in this strange game of keep-away. One of the larger wolves sniffed at Bunny, listening with one ear as Snowflake made small growling sounds in his throat. The wolf relaxed, and laid down next to Bunny to watch the smaller wolves play. Tooth and Sandy landed on the sleigh and were almost immediately investigated by another of the pack, deemed non-threatening, and welcomed into the impromptu gathering.

All the while, Snowflake was sitting, nose to nose with the largest wolf; they quickly realised this was the packs alpha.

"S'almost like he's gettin' told off..." he mused to Tooth and Sandy. Sandy nodded in agreement and Tooth giggled as they watched Snowflake bow his head and turn away slightly, looking upset before the wolf pushed back into his personal space to regain his attention.

"So... what do you think? Pitch tried to isolate Snowflake, but why?" Tooth wondered out loud.

Sandy conjured up symbols above his head; an egg, tooth and Christmas tree, followed by an eye and a snowflake.

"Coz... we paid 'im attention?" Bunny questioned, and Sandy nodded. "Ah, he musta figured there was somethin' special 'bout 'im if we were lookin' for him,"

"We should try to rehabilitate him. As adorable as it is watching him amongst wolves, we need to be able to properly communicate with him and... it'd be nice to get him in some nicer clothes... those rags won't last much longer," Tooth said, watching as Snowflake whined at the large wolf. "If he can make these vocalisations, he can probably learn speech, though it'll take a lot of work. If we can at least teach him the important words first..."

"AH I am defeated!" North suddenly shouted, startling the other Guardians. They glanced over as he dramatically fell to the ground and was immediately pounced on by several of the younger wolves who let out excited barks and half-howls, declaring their victory. Distracted as they were by the scene, the Guardians were surprised to see Snowflake sitting beside the sleigh. He eyed it with disdain, before turning his attention back to the defeated North.

"I suppose we should head back to the Workshop to plan our next step," Tooth said. North returned to the sleigh with a grin as the wolves reluctantly let him leave play time. The Guardians settled into the sleigh, then looked to Snowflake.

Snowflake looked back to his pack and whined. The alpha approached and nuzzled him gently, then rubbed its side against his. Snowflake let out a tiny whine, before turning and climbing slowly into the sleigh, giving it a suspicious glare as he did. He turned back to look at the alpha. The pack gathered and threw their heads back, releasing a series of howls. Snowflake joined, after a moment, even as the sleigh began to move. The Guardians listened, looking between their charge and his pack. Tooth struggled to hold back a saddened sniffle.

They all knew what this was, even if they didn't acknowledge it. They knew what Snowflake and his pack were doing, what they were saying.

'Farewell.'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've actually been researching wolf behaviours to try keep this within the realm of realistic. Here's some of the things I found that are relevant to this chapter, bc wolves are super interesting to me :P
> 
> * Wolves 'greet' by licking each others mouths. Puppies also do this as a sign that they're hungry.  
> * Wolves indicate that they wanna play by "bowing", similar to dogs.  
> * Wolves communicate primarily through their body language and vocalisations like barks and whines.  
> * Looking away is a sign of submission.  
> * Wolves rub their sides against each other as a sign of affection.
> 
> As ever, kudos and comments are massively appreciated; I LOVE hearing from ya'll, and will take any comments aboard as feedback to help me improve my writing!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Snowflake vs Baths

The Guardians returned to the Workshop with a goal in mind: cleaning up their new charge. His clothes were beyond repair; his leather pants were reduced to rags, his shirt so threadbare it was practically see-through. His hair was long and ragged, coated in ice. Dirt and questionable substances coated his skin. Sandy and Tooth decided to take on the task of organising new clothes for him; Bunny and North were left with the unenviable task of bathing him.

Bunny quietly slipped into the bathroom to prepare a cold bath while North distracted him. He couldn't quite keep up with the energetic Snowflake, but once he realised it was a game, Snowflake would allow North to "catch" him for wrestling before darting out of his grasp and making him run around more.

"Is this to burn your energy or mine, Snowflake?!" North chuckled as he hopped over a sofa to chase the boy. Snowflake let out a small huff and darted off again. He glanced over and saw Bunny crack the door open with a nod.

"Oh no, mate, c'mere Snowflake, I'll protect ya!" Bunny called. Snowflake darted over and past Bunny as North 'chased' him. They worked together to herd Snowflake into the bathroom. He hesitated and looked around, trotting over to the bath and looking into it. Confused, he dipped his head down and started lapping at the water. North and Bunny exchanged smiles, then quietly approached him. They stood either side of him, then North tapped the back of his head to get his attention. Snowflake watched North with narrowed eyes as he was gently picked up.

"I'm wanting you to trust us now, okay?" North cooed, before nodding to Bunny. Bunny took the hem of the tatty shirt and began to pull it up over Snowflake's head, who seemed to regard the events with confusion. He let out an angry whine as it was pulled over his head, calming only once he could see again. Removing his pants was more of a struggle as Snowflake opposed having his legs restrained, and he kicked and fought. It took a few minutes to remove them, but once they were off, North gently lowered him into the bath. Once sat in the water, Snowflake stared at it wide-eyed. Bunny switched on the tap for the sink, preparing some much hotter water.

North took a cloth and began to wipe down his arms while Bunny wiped down his legs. They found themselves having to replace the water a few times as the boy was coated thick in filth. Once his extremities were cleaned, they both moved to his torso. Throughout, he sat mostly still, squirming away from the cloths. They had to stop multiple times to sooth him. Bunny eventually decided his stomach and chest were as clean as they were going to get and soaked his cloth in the heated water and nodded to North.

"Okay Snowflake. We are needing you to sit still for us, yes? Deep breaths..." North soothed, reaching down to hold his arms. Snowflake whined and began to try to wriggle free. "You are doing very good!"

Bunny moved the warmed cloth to Snowflake's hair and that's when the trouble really began. The ice in his hair began to melt, but as the hot water touched his skin he began to yelp and cry. He lunged forward to escape the heat and bit down into North's arm, releasing ice. Out of surprise, North pulled back, allowing Snowflake to twist around and bite Bunny's arm, before launching himself out of the bathtub and scrambling at the door to try to escape.

It took the elder Guardians a few moments to sooth the pain in their arms long enough to consider how to approach the now petrified boy, who span around and began growling deeply, sinking into an aggressive posture. North slowly approached Snowflake, making hushing sounds. Surprisingly, Snowflake pushed into North's outstretched hand and let out a tiny pained whine.

"Ah, I am seeing, that was much too hot for you. We will wait til is colder, yes?" North cooed, reaching over to grab a towel and gently draping it over the (still-naked) child. Snowflake, apparently remembering the cloak situation, tried to pull away as North used the towel to bundle him up and start drying him. "We must get ice out of your hair, am thinking that is not comfortable," North explained. Snowflake merely whined, but stopped squirming. Bunny laughed as he watched him go too far and go completely limp in Norths arms.

"This is gonna take longer than I thought," Bunny sighed with a smile.

* * *

Tooth and Sandy looked at the clothing they had helped one of the Yeti make. Bertha, it turned out, was very fond of tailoring and had a knack for guessing peoples required sizes with just a glimpse at them. Excited, Tooth flew to go fetch the rest of their companions. She knocked on the bathroom door and heard Snowflake bark in response.

"Is everything going alright in there?" she chuckled.

"Had a bit of a tantrum but he is nearly clean now," North answered. "You can come in if you are wanting," he added. Tooth opened the door as little as possible to allow herself to slip in and couldn't help but laugh. The men had added bubbles to the water, some of which were now frozen as Snowflake was curled up in the bath, chin resting on the edge, looking incredibly bored. The ice was slowly melting out of his hair, partially from the warmer water and from the friction as Bunny and North scrubbed cloths through his hair.

"Oh you poor thing, what are they doing to you!" Tooth teased, kneeling beside the tub. She laughed as Snowflake let out an irritated whine. "Making a boy like you sit still for so long, what torture!" she smiled.

"We foun' out the ankle-biter doesn't like heat," Bunny grumbled, briefly twisting his arm to show Tooth the bite wound in his arm. The wounds the two had suffered had been carefully wrapped up, Bunny thankful to discover they weren't deep. "Hurt 'im pretty bad when I tried to melt the ice," he added.

Tooth carefully studied Snowflake. The ice had previously frozen his hair into sharp, long spikes, almost like icicles. Now that it was melting away, she could see his hair was very soft and fluffy. It was very wavy, and was about hip length she guessed, and an off-white, blueish colour. His eyes were a shimmering sky blue, but now that she looked closer, she could see tiny sparkles, almost like glitter hidden in the blue. His skin was practically white, but she could see the ghosts of freckles across his cheeks and shoulders.

"I can't wait to see you all cleaned up, Sweet-tooth," Tooth declared with a smile. He just sighed and tilted his head, clearly finding all this fussing to be frustrating.

* * *

They eventually decided that they had cleaned him up as much as possible, knowing his patience wouldn't last forever. North bundled him back up into some dry towels, making sure to keep his arms free so he didn't feel restricted, and carried him into the bedroom they had decided now belonged to Snowflake. Sandy floated to one side, smiling. He made a series of symbols: a wolf, then a t-shirt and some pants, then a wolf wearing the clothes with a question mark.

"Yeah... putting the clothes on him is going to be a challenge," North sighed. Sandy shook his head with a sly smile, and floated down to Snowflake. He reached out and stroked his newly deiced hair, before sprinkling some dream sand across his eyes, plunging him into a light slumber. The other Guardians let out sighs of relief and set about quickly dressing him. The clothes were fairly simple, a loose form-fitting hide pants and sleeveless shirt. They had added soft finger-less gloves and bracers around his wrists. Given his fight style, they had opted out of shoes, going instead for ankle braces. To complete the new clothes, they reattached his fur cloak, now properly cleaned and repaired. As a final touch, Tooth and Bunny worked together to braid his hair to help keep it tidy and out of his eyes.

As Sandy floated back to inspect their work, his eyes lit up; he could see tiny flecks of a dream in his mind. He beamed, and though he had planned to wake him up once they were done, he instead chose to feed the dream and let their young friend rest. He directed the others to tuck him into his bed. He waited until they left, and settled down beside the dreamer. He watched the tiny glimmers and softly encouraged them, eager to see what form the child's dreams would take...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd like to end this chapter by saying I am completely honoured by the amount of kudos, bookmarks and comments this bit of nonsense has received so far. Seeing people enjoy what I create is an overwhelmingly fantastic feeling! Thank you everyone for your support, and I hope you continue to enjoy this story.
> 
> In case you don't know what ankle braces are: [click](https://www.rehband.co.uk/media/catalog/product/cache/12/image/500x500/040ec09b1e35df139433887a97daa66f/7/7/7761_UD_X-Stable_Ankle_Brace.jpg)


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A dream of early days...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Blood, eating raw meat

A tiny wail echoed through the forest clearing, a boy huddled on the frozen lake, terrified. He couldn't remember. He woke up on the ice, but didn't remember anything else. The name 'Jack Frost' had echoed in his mind, but he didn't know who that was. Was that someone who could help him? He didn't know. He was too scared to move. He could see the water beneath the ice, roiling shadows making it look so much deeper than it likely was.

"Mama..." he whimpered, burying his face into his knees. He heard the ice creak subtly as new weight was added to it. He looked up, straight into the face of a black wolf. It leaned closer, and wide-eyed, the boy looked away. The wolf huffed, and gently took the boys hood in its mouth. It dragged him slowly and carefully to the lakes edge, before turning and sniffing at him. It tickled! The boy let out an unwilling giggle. The sound seemed to make the wolf happy, as it leaned in and licked his face.

The wolf picked the boy up by his cloak and half carried, half dragged him away from the lonely, frozen lake. Other wolves came to walk alongside his saviour, all of whom seemed much smaller than it. The smaller wolves began to crowd into the boys personal space, familiarising themselves with his scent and letting him learn theirs.

* * *

Many moons had passed since the boy joined the pack, and while at first he was frightful and barely left his saviours side, now he would wrestle with other pups. The patient elder wolves had deemed him healthy and ready for his first hunt, and the pups were reluctant to let their big brother go. At the encouragement of their parents, they sat back and let him follow the others, though he was just as reluctant to go.

They led him to a clearing where they knew prey to be, then moved away, circling the clearing. It was a blur for the boy, one moment he was crouching in the bushes, the next, he heard a low howl and was charging forward on all fours, eyes locked on their chosen meal. He moved faster than any of the pack had anticipated and was able to bring the deer down with ease, if only for a moment, stunning it with his speed and knocking it down with momentum.

A kick to the jaw, and he was forced to move back from the deer, but his pack moved quickly to keep it from running far. One of the wolves - a motherly beta female - moved to check on him, and licked his injured jaw, huffing proudly. He beamed at his surrogate mother, and let her lead him back to the fallen opponent. She tore some of the flesh away from their kill and brought it to him, knowing his bite wasn't strong enough to remove the meat yet, but happy to support him. He mewled happily, and began snacking on the very bloody meat.

* * *

Snowflake stirred and flinched back at the sight of gold right in his face. Sandy floated back and smiled warmly. Yawning, Snowflake reached forward and grabbed the floating man and pulled him into a sleepy cuddle, nuzzling the top of his head and licking. Sandy wished he had a voice so he could laugh properly, finding amusement in the tired grooming. With every lick, Snowflake would wrinkle his nose at the texture of the sand that formed Sandy's body and yet, in his haziness, would just keep going. Sandy reached up and patted Snowflake's hair.

It was this sight that North walked in on. He immediately turned around and walked back out, barely choking down the laughter until he was out of earshot of the strange duo. Bunny approached him and quirked an eyebrow.

"Thought ya were gonna get Sandy?" he asked. North nodded and grinned. He gestured for Bunny to follow him and led him to the room.

Bunny stared, then turned around and walked back out, hands over his mouth to try suppress the laughter.

* * *

An hour later, the Guardians and Snowflake were sitting in front of a low-burning fireplace. Given their guests nature, North had taken to keeping the fire lower than normal, fearful that making it too hot might cause him harm.

"Whatever it is that Pitch is trying to do, I think we can fight it if we all perform our duties beyond expectations," Tooth explained, barely keeping her eyes off the still-drowsy child curled up between Sandy and North. "So if we make this Easter the best ever, it should do a fair bit to buying us time to stopping him," she concluded, a knowing smiling pulling at the corners of her lips as Bunny's eyes lit up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feedback appreciated as ever, my dudes. This chapter kicked my ass and I had a lot of trouble writing it, but I think I'm okay with it. I keep trying to draw feral!Jack but my hands aren't co-operating so :Y As soon as my hands stop being little jerks, I'll try again =w=;


	7. Chapter 7

Bunny watched Snowflake like a hawk. They had agreed that leaving him unattended in the Workshop was an awful idea. Taking him somewhere that his feral mind would see as full of prey was also a bad idea. It was however, the less-bad idea. Now as he sat, half crouching, half kneeling, beside Bunny, he could see the curiosity in the boys eyes. They heard a rumbling as a 'herd' of walking eggs came sprinting out from one of the tunnels. The Guardians prepared to attack whatever was attacking the eggs, only to see a small blonde girl come chasing after the eggs. She paused to look at the assembled - and slightly embarrassed - group, before turning her attention back to the eggs.

"How... how did she get in 'ere?!" Bunny exclaimed. North patted his pockets thoughtfully and realised he was missing one of his magic snowglobes. He smiled sheepishly at Bunny.

"I bet she likes fairies!" Tooth declared, crouching down in front of the little girl. At first the child was happily intrigued by the Tooth Fairy... but then she tried to entertain the little one with teeth (complete with blood), to which the girl responded with a horrified shriek. She sprinted away from the terrifying fairy, choosing to hide behind Bunny (something that big and fluffy couldn't possibly be a threat, right?) who was a little... baffled. He was at a loss; it had been a very long time since he directly interacted with children. Sandy was the first to shake off his surprise and quietly signed for Bunny to entertain the child. Bunny nodded, still a little wide-eyed.

"Y'wanna paint some googies with us?" Bunny offered, and the girl bounced with joy.

* * *

It turned out having a boy raised by wolves was actually rather useful when it came to herding large amounts of walking eggs into rivers of paint. North glanced over from where he had been painting with some of his Yeti and chuckled at the sight of Snowflake acting like a sheepdog, cornering and herding the eggs into the river.

"I think I best get this one home," Bunny quietly announced, holding a slumbering child in his arms. The others nodded.

"We'll keep painting here," Tooth assured him.

"Jus' guide 'em down them tunnels when they're done, they mostly know where t'go." Bunny explained. "I won't be long,"

With that, he tapped the ground and dove into the tunnel.

Snowflake sprinted up on all fours and sniffled at the flower left behind by the tunnel, before turning and looking at the remaining Guardians as if to question where Bunny had gone. Tooth fluttered down to sit beside him, exhausted from the work they'd carried out; turns out chasing down walking-eggs, properly decorating them, herding them into the river and then back into the clearing in front of the tunnels leading out to every country was a lot harder than she thought.

"Can you help us a little more, sweet-tooth?" she asked, looking to Snowflake. He merely tilted his head, as if encouraging her to go on. "As Bunny said, we need to split the prepared eggs between each of the tunnels. Do you think you can handle that?"

Without a word - of course - Snowflake took off into the clearing and began making sounds at the eggs, using his own body and surprisingly intimidating presence to split the eggs into mostly-even groups and nudging them toward the tunnels. Content that the feral boy was surprisingly adept at this task, the others continued painting.

* * *

It wasn't until Bunny returned that they realised something was wrong.

"...where's the anklebiter?" he asked.

"Oh, we had him down near the tunnels, splitting the eggs between the different tunnels," Tooth explained.

"He's a very good shepherd," North confirmed. Bunny nodded, and moved out to the tunnel clearing to check on their young recruit... to find only eggs.

"Oh 'ell." he whispered, mostly to himself. He ran back to the others, waking Sandy from his nap and hurriedly explaining - "Kid's gone, guys, he ain't near the tunnels,"

"Bunny, you go make sure Easter happens as it should, Sandy and I will try find him, we can fly so we can cover more ground. North, search around the Warren, in case he's still here. If anyone finds him, return to the Workshop and use the Lights," Tooth commanded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Would love any feedback you could provide ^_^
> 
> Also, I am a fan of BAMF Tooth. She's a queen, she wouldn't have a problem organising a rescue mission within seconds :3
> 
> Next chapter, we'll see what happened to Jackie~


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pitch vs Snowflake, round 3!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Blood, child abuse, I'm a horrible person to Snowflake

Snowflake felt so full in his chest. The strange Outsiders had entrusted him with this task. He didn't understand all the noises they made, but it sounded important, all he had to do was herd the tiny prey into the tunnels! Easy!

He heard a sound that didn't belong and span around. There was a black horse! Like the Wrong One had! Wait! This horse must belong to the Wrong One's pack! He growled, and let his weapons form over his body. The Wrong One was not welcome here!

He charged at the horse. If he had been calmer, he might have thought it odd that the shadows behind it seemed far deeper than they should have. He might have even been able to stop his momentum, as the horse swiftly dodged around him, letting him go flailing into the darkness. Infuriated, he span around - how dare the Wrong Horse humiliate him like that! - only to come face to face with a horse hoof straight to his face. There was a slight crunch as something broke, and Snowflake was sent tumbling deeper into the shadows.

The horse nickered, and stalked after him. Snowflake rolled onto his feet and charged again. As he was about to latch onto the horse, the horse shifted its form, becoming formless sand. It wrapped itself around Snowflake's arms and legs, trying to restrict his movements. Immediately, he formed up ice across his body, determined to freeze the Wrong Horse off his body.

"Now, now, little pup," a familiar crooning voice said. "Settle down and you'll get a treat."

Snowflake glared up at the shadow lurking over him; the Wrong One, with his grey skin and golden eyes! He snarled as the last of the sand fell to the ground inert. He backed away slightly and began to circle; he was in unfamiliar territory, maybe even the Wrong One's territory, which meant he was at a disadvantage. He studied his surroundings as much as he studied the Wrong One. He was a powerful fighter, but not so foolish as to try fight an enemy alpha in unfamiliar surroundings alone. He could sense subtle movements in the shadows and instinctively knew it was the Wrong One's pack. Unlike last time, he couldn't call out to his pack, and the Outsiders weren't here to help him. The Wrong One was unlikely to underestimate him again. But even as he realised how against him the odds were, a plan was forming.

He clearly couldn't go back through the shadows - not with the way they moved, teeming with unseen pack mates - but he had noticed a tunnel leading out. He just had to be careful how he manoeuvred...

"I can't help but wonder if you even know what's happening, puppy," the Wrong One teased. "Do you even know what I'm saying?"

Snowflake snarled, baring his icy fangs in warning, even as the ice continued to spread across his body into armour. By Snowflake's calculations, the tunnel should be almost directly behind him... he just needed a head start.

"Come on, puppy. Show me some sign you understa-" the Wrong One began. He was rather rudely interrupted by the ice rapidly spreading through Snowflake's feet and fingers, encasing his legs.

* * *

"Well, if nothing else, he understands I'm something to be feared," Pitch mused, watching the boy sprint off into the tunnel. He turned to the shadows. "Find him. I want him alive." he instructed. He wondered if the boy knew he was walking further into danger, or if he was foolish enough to think he could escape.

He smiled to himself; he couldn't help but find this boy fascinating. He began to shift through the shadows, watching his prey...

* * *

Snowflake could feel the Wrong One and his pack pursuing him, but he couldn't stop. He was sure if he kept moving he'd find his way through the caves, then he could go back to the Outsiders or call upon his pack!

He made a sudden left turn, hoping to throw off his pursuers, but found himself stumbling down steps that seemed to go on for an age, twisting in impossible angles. Landing in a pile at the bottom, he glanced up - and no, that's impossible! The top of the stairs was upside down above him!

He shook his head and took off. This place was confusing and disorientating, but he refused to let the Wrong One catch him. The ground suddenly vanished from beneath him and he fell through into another tunnel, landing roughly on his arm. His injuries were beginning to pile up - he'd definitely damaged his nose when the horse kicked him, made worse when he fell down the stairs. His arms were bruised, but the armour had stopped the worst of it. The ice had shattered from across his legs, which were now covered in scratches from unseen attackers. He shook himself off and clambered back onto his feet. He continued his sprint, feeling the enemy pack pressing in closer to him.

Something reached out from the shadows and left a deep cut across his face as he sprinted by. He yelped - that hurt! - but otherwise continued as quickly as he could. He couldn't stop to fight, he had to get out! He had to get back to Papa, he'd know what to do, he'd make the scariness stop! He shook his head, no, any member of his pack would be able to help him. Even the Outsiders could, he just couldn't do this alone.

As he stumbled down another unseen drop (how many of those are there, Wrong One?!) it occurred to him that he'd never actually had to do much alone. Even when he left the pack to protect the forest as a whole, he still could hear them singing. He'd even join in! And now he couldn't hear them, he couldn't feel the wind on his skin. All he could sense was the... wrongness of this place. He came across a staircase and began to sprint up them - surely if he goes up enough, he'll find the exit! After a moment he became keenly aware that the stairs up were now leading back down and he stopped, spinning back around to try figure out when that happened, only to lock eyes with one of his pursuers. He didn't even have the words for it; it was Wrong. It was like a shadow with no source, eyes burning a hole through him. He felt fear pulse through him; he didn't know how he knew, but he did indeed know this thing intended to kill him.

He felt the tears prick at the corners of his eyes, and took off once again. Faster. Must go faster. They're right behind me and they're so many and they're gonna kill me. Snowflake pushed his powers to their limits, urging them to help him move faster faster faster than he ever had before. He needed papa and mama and the outsiders and his pack and oh moon above they were gonna get him and did anyone even know he was here?!

Blinded by darkness and tears, he didn't see the much larger drop in front of him. He had made it to a huge cavern. From the ceiling hung iron cages, filled with helpless fairies. He stumbled over the edge and landed with a sickening crunch on the strange golden cylinders below. Snowflake whimpered and clutched his ribs. One arm hung limply, his leg kept buckling under him each time he tried to stand.

* * *

Pitch calmly approached the edge and looked down at the mess of a spirit below. He could see the damage inflicted by both the fall and landing on the hard, metal memory boxes. His shadowy minions were drawing closer to him, and he was lashing out with his claws - though reduced to one arm - to try fend them off. He melted into the shadow and reformed on the lower level. He calmly stalked towards his prey, arms tucked behind his back. His shadows parted for him until he was stood over the boy.

"Poor little Snowflake. All alone in the dark," he taunted. He looked at the spirit, who had managed to get upright and was scrambling, trying to keep his distance. "What am I going to do with you, hm? If I leave you unchecked, you're going to be quite the nuisance, aren't you?"

Snowflake had managed to get his back against the wall and was glaring at Pitch. Dried blood was smeared across his nose from the Nightmare, but it still trickled freely from the cut on his cheek. Pitch merely smiled as a Nightmare charged the wounded spirit, melting down into sand and once again, attempting to restrain him. Others joined in, nearly burying Snowflake in blackened sand. He fought back as hard as he could, freezing the sand, but more was piling on faster than he could freeze it. The sand vibrated against itself, generating heat and thawing itself.

"So how are you enjoying my Nightmare Sand, Snowflake? Oh, and have they warned you about Fearlings yet?" Pitch continued, as if oblivious to the whimpers of the overheated frost spirit. Pitch gestured to his shadowy minions, the Fearlings, and they began to encroach on Snowflake's personal space, reaching out and grabbing ahold of him through the sand, pulling back to the ground.

"You, little pup, are quite a distraction. So I'm going to have to put you in a kennel for a little bit," he chuckled. He assaulted Snowflake's mind, dragging him into a painful sleep. "Put him in a cell. Seal it. I don't want him to even have a chance of escaping," he instructed his Fearlings. They chuckled back, with some of them whispering questions. Pitch grinned. "Oh yes. Feel free to play with him... just keep him alive."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The confrontation between Pitch and Jack in his lair was actually my favourite part of the entire movie. It was 3spoopy5me.
> 
> Writing from Snowflake's PoV was a little harder than I thought it'd be, just thinking of how he'd categorise everyone. I hope you enjoyed my attempt to capture the WTF that is Pitch's lair and poor Jackie slowly succumbing to his fear. The idea of the sand vibrating actually came from [bees](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apis_cerana_japonica#Protective_behaviors).
> 
> Obviously, this is going to be a point of a major plot divergence.
> 
> Feedback craved, especially now that we're going off the rails =w=;
> 
> (also i'm so sorry jackie)


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Easter is ruined, and Snowflake ain't rolling over that easy!

Pitch watched with a smug grin as his Nightmares crushed the last of the eggs. Bunny had fought so very hard to protect them, but one Guardian vs a herd of Nightmares was an obvious battle. He was tempted to take the accursed rabbit, but knew he didn't have the means to contain him - he would only begrudgingly admit that the rabbit was a very capable warrior.

Speaking of, the ridiculous creature had spotted him and was currently charging.

"Now, now, little bunny~" he teased, melting into the shadows and reappearing a short distance away. "You wouldn't want to do something you'll regret, now do you?"

"Ain't no way I'm gonna regret kickin' yer ass, Pitch," Bunny growled.

"Even if it kills another?"

Ah, there it is. The rabbit hesitated, just for a split second, and Pitch grinned.

"What're you talkin' about?!" he snapped. Pitch just reached into his shadowy robes and produced what - to Bunny - appeared to be a strange shard of glass. He tossed it forward, gently enough that the warrior would know it wasn't an attack. Bunny looked down at it and choked. In his hand was one of Snowflake's fangs. "What... did you do?!"

His eyes snapped up from the slowly melting fang, only to realise Pitch had vanished.

"YOU COWARD!" he screamed. He moved to open a tunnel, before he felt it. The children coming out to find no eggs. He choked, miserable, feeling their belief in him crumble down.

* * *

Snowflake let out a tiny whimper, trying to pull away from the pools of shadows that moved suspiciously like water. This cave, with its perfectly straight walls, was so tiny. He couldn't stretch all the way out, he couldn't see a way out, and the Wrong One's pack seemed to delight in his discomfort. His body ached in a way it hadn't since that incident with the great bear. He felt the ground grow damp and looked down. He yelped at the sight of water trickling in from some unseen hole. He pulled back, placing himself into a corner - a mistake he realised too late as one of the Wrong One's pack sunk its claws into his wounded side. He span on his heel and lashed out, but instead of his attacker, he somehow missed and struck the wall. He felt the pain shoot through his finger tips, and backed away as the nasty creature snickered.

"Ah, you allowed him to wake up, hm?"

Snowflake scanned the shadows, growling, even as he made himself smaller, fear pulsing through him. The Wrong One emerged from a shadow and he allowed his ice to bristle across his body. His arm and leg limited his movement, and his ribs prevented him from taking a proper breath, but he would still fight the Wrong One.

"Hello, sleepyhead," the Wrong One crooned. Snowflake growled, deeper, more threateningly, but it just elicited a chuckle from his enemy. "Not very well trained, are you, puppy?"

The shadow man stalked towards Snowflake, who could do nothing but press himself against the wall. The man reached down and grabbed ahold of his hair, dragging him up onto his feet. The black sand seemed to sense that he wouldn't be able to hold himself up, coursing out of the darkness to wrap around and brace his injured leg. The man - Pitch, the Red Alpha had called him, he remembered now - turned his head to one side before looking back at Snowflake.

"My Fearlings tell me some interesting things about you, puppy," Pitch smiled. "They've been digging in that little head of yours while I was busy, you see. Trying to figure out just how a spirit like you evaded my notice when our homes were so close together."

Snowflake glared. He had decided he didn't like this mans voice, an opinion the man clearly didn't share.

"I'd love for you to tell me how you did that, but they found out you don't know how to speak. Rather a silly weakness of yours, but one that won't interfere with my plans, at least. It does get rather tiresome when they beg," Pitch smirked.

Snowflake decided he also didn't like Pitch's teeth.

"Did you know, little one, that I can feed on fear? If I had to rank it, I'd say the fear of an adult is the most disgusting; kind of stale, not really worth the effort. The fear of a child? Much more palatable. I'd rank the fear of a spirit above that, since they have this awful tendency to be difficult to frighten, it becomes quite a rare treat. But I'll tell you a secret, puppy; I've never met a child spirit before you. Your fear is be a veritable gourmet meal~"

Snowflake decided he didn't like Pitch's dietary habits. Pitch seemed momentarily distracted, but before he could act on this advantage, his focus returned.

"I have something quite delightful to show you. Bit pointless speaking to a mutt, but hey, I've had nothing but fearlings and shadows to speak to for a very long time, I'll take what conversational partners I can get..."

* * *

Pitch smiled at the boy, even as the brat kept struggling. He had used nightmare sand to restrict the boys movement, binding his arms behind him. He stood before a metal sphere of tainted black. Tiny orbs of light shimmered across it. It was almost a dark parody of the one in the Workshop. He grabbed the back of Snowflake's collar and lifted him with ease.

"This, puppy, shows a light for every child who believes in the Guardians. My goal is to extinguish every single one. Belief, you see, is a rather valuable commodity amongst us spirits. It gives us power. Without it, we're weak and vulnerable. A spirit with no believers is easily slain. A child who doesn't believe in the Guardians is one who is unprotected from spirits like me. Without that belief, I can work my way into their minds, fill them with fear and have them know it was me behind it."

He looked down, and was surprised to see the rapt attention the feral child was showing.

"By taking away the Tooth Fairy's ridiculous little minions and stopping the Easter eggs from reaching their destination, I've undermined belief in those two. I can't use the same method against Sandy or North, sadly. North's holiday isn't until the end of the year, and Sandy doesn't have minions or anything like that. But, I do have plans to deal with that. As his silly little nickname implies, Sandy is made of sand. Specifically, dream sand, which I possess the ability to corrupt. All I would need to do is inject a large amount of nightmare sand into his body, and he would be consumed by it. That means no more pleasant dreams for anyone, and that makes it easy for me to---"

In retrospect, it was rather foolish of Pitch to assume that the attention he was receiving was because the boy was listening to what he was saying. He would perhaps consider that. Later.

Right now, he had to work hard to avoid being bitten in the throat.

It turns out that feral children don't necessarily need the usage of their arms to do damage, if you let your guard down around them.

While Snowflake had missed his throat, he had landed a particularly nasty bite into his shoulder, allowing the ice that he carried in his fangs to spread up his neck and face, and down his arm and chest. It had been a very long time since Pitch had been legitimately injured by another spirit and was unpleasantly reminded how pain felt.

* * *

By the moon the Wrong One didn't half like to talk.

Using what little ice he could conjure, Snowflake reinforced his leg and sprinted away. In his cockiness, Pitch had released his shoulder. He had used his innate connection to the wind to launch a surprise attack, and while Pitch was recovering, he had tapped deeper into the connection. He was listening carefully to the wind. He was almost out of strength - he desperately needed to eat and rest - but if he could just find where the wind was entering this lair, he'd be able to call on his pack and they would protect him.

He ignored the fearlings snapping at his heels, focusing instead on the wind. It took some time - the lair was a confusing labyrinth, but he found the exit and immediately let loose a howl. It was cut short by a fearling pouncing on him and digging its hateful claws into the back of his skull, but already he could hear his pack calling back. He grabbed ahold of the fearling with his good arm, pushing it back and repeated his howl, again and again, even as more and more fearlings caught up to him, sinking tooth and claw into his body.

As his consciousness began to fade, he could only hope that his family would arrive in time...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter fought me tooth and nail, I just couldn't get it out =n=; Between writers block, "oh wait that assignment was due before christmas *shriek*" and sickness, this took a lot longer than I anticipated. (still havent finished that bloody assignment ;_;)
> 
> I didn't even mean for Pitch to lay out that much of his plan to Jack, but he started talking and wouldn't stop ;_;


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Guardians begin to realise what has happened, and not one of them is too pleased about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Child abuse
> 
> Honestly, just go forward assuming child abuse is present until Jack gets rescued.

Tooth settled down, looking around a familiar town. She remembered that Bunny had found Snowflake here in the first place, though the name of it eluded her. Barton? Burger? Something like that. She sighed, not seeing any sign of their lost child.

She began to fly upwards when she froze. A faint sound - a howl - echoed from the forest. She narrowed her eyes and flew towards it, high enough that she could scout easier. The howl repeated, and again and again. She saw it then - Snowflake's wolf pack, charging through the forest. They stopped sometimes, howling, then continuing after a moment. One of the wolves - far larger than the others - look upward, directly at Tooth and howled at her, as if calling her forth. She darted down, landing before it.

"Snowflake's missing... he was helping us and--" she began to explain, but stopped with an indignant squeak as the wolf grabbed her around the waist in its jaw and forced her onto its back. The pack took off again, continuing its search.

"...you...weren't with the pack last time, were you?" Tooth asked. The wolf snorted. She realised she was going to have more trouble speaking with the wolf than she did Snowflake; at least her sweet-tooth had recognisable expressions.

* * *

North let out a distressed groan. He'd searched the Warren, but there was no sign of his lost companion. The only clue he'd found was disturbed dirt around the tunnels where it looked like Snowflake had charged at something, but those tracks didn't lead anywhere.

"North, we got a problem!"

He turned to see Bunny charging at him. He was noticeably smaller, and looked absolutely furious.

"What is problem?" North asked, presuming he meant beyond the obvious.

"Pitch has the kid, and he destroyed me eggs," Bunny growled.

"Do we have plan?" North growled, angered at the thought of Pitch hurting their Snowflake. Bunny shook his head.

"Find them, get the kid out, kick Pitch's bony a--"

"Ah, Sandy, you are back?" North interrupted.

Sandy floated towards them on his cloud. His body language was dejected, and they knew he'd failed to find Snowflake. Sandy looked up, conjuring a snowflake and a question mark over his head.

"Pitch has him." North bluntly stated. Sandy looked furious, and punched the palm of his hand, tilting his head to one side.

"...that's the plan, yeah. Soon as we find him..." Bunny answered. Sandy conjured up a tooth above his head next to another question mark.

"We will use Northern Lights, let Tooth know." North stated.

* * *

Consciousness returned slowly to Snowflake. He felt something cold around his wrists, and realised he was upright, though he couldn't feel the ground below him. He opened his eyes, shaking his head as his vision was blurred. He saw his cloak hung neatly on a hook across the room. The weird wrist things the Outsiders had put on him lay on an elevated platform, along with the ones from his ankles. 

It took him a moment to put the scene together in his mind; he'd been recaptured and was now dangling by his wrists. He looked up, and saw manacles and chains made of a strange sparkling black metal. Looking down, his waist and ankles were similarly bound. He heard a sound behind him. The Wrong One - Pitch - walked around him, the apparent source of the noise. His hands were tucked behind his back, and he had a very unpleasant smile on his face.

"You know, I think I've been rather pleasant to you, puppy," Pitch said softly. Snowflake began to growl; he was not a fan of this man. "Far more forgiving of you than most would be, I think. After all, you were a rather rude guest." Pitch continued, ignoring the growling, resting a hand on the now-healed shoulder Snowflake had bitten. "I thought I'd teach you a little lesson before I returned you to your room."

Pitch moved in front of Snowflake and reached forward, taking Snowflake's jaw in his hand. Snowflake tried to pull away, bite his fingers, anything. The more he struggled, the more Pitch tightened his grasp.

"The problem I have with you, boy," Pitch practically spat out. "Is that you're too stupid to realise when you're beaten. So here's what we're going to do. You're going to take a nice...long...nap," he continued, tightening his grasp with each pause. "...and if you can be a good puppy and stop this ridiculous struggling, I'll let you out and think about explaining why I took you. Fair? Good."

Without waiting for a response, Pitch conjured up black sand and blew it into Snowflake's face, sending him into an unwilling slumber.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> no-no Bunny, Guardian's aren't allowed to cuss, only I am. Even if it's only as minor as arse.
> 
> I was gonna write out more of Pitch's treatment of Jack, but decided this was a good 'resting' point in the story. I'm so sorry to keep being mean to Jacky, I promise it gets better :c


End file.
